Family Ichneumonidae (Ichneumon Wasps)
The Ichneumonidae is one of the most species rich families of all organisms with an estimated 60000 species in the world. An estimated 12100 species of Ichneumonidae occur in the Afrotropical region (Africa south of the Sahara and including Madagascar).
Ichneumon wasps are mostly slender-bodied wasps with at least 16-segmented antennae that are more than half the length of the body, the middle ones sometimes white or yellow. In females, the abdomen may end in a long ovipositor used in some species to drill into plant stems to reach the host. Hind trochanters are 2-segmented. Most species are black, yellow or brown, or patterns of these colours. Vein 2m-cu of the forewing is present in 95% of Ichneumonidae. Base of cubital vein lacking, 1st submarginal and 1st discoidal cells fused. The resulting vein structure is sometimes called "horse head" shape. This boot-shaped submarginal cell in the forewing is diagnostic of the family. They are distinguished from the similar Braconidae by the absence of a square cell on the fore wing.
Ichneumonids parasitize larvae and pupae. Idiobiont or Koinobiont endo or ectoparasitoids of immature insects (Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera, Rhaphidioptera, Trichoptera) or Chelcerata (Araneae and Pseudoscorpionida eggs, adult Araneae).
Links:
WaspWeb: Ichneumonidae of the Afrotropical Region